NEWARK -- A Newark municipal attorney has pleaded guilty to trying to coerce $750,000 from his boss and a promotion, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office announced today.

Neal Braunstein, 40, admitted to threatening his boss, Julien Neals, the city corporation counsel director, that he would reveal an unspecified offense unless Neals gave him the money and a better job, the prosecutor’s office said. Braunstein was arrested in his City Hall office last May.

Today’s guilty plea in Superior Court saves Braunstein, who had been hired during the administration of former Newark Mayor Sharpe James, from serving jail time.

Braunstein pleaded to third-degree attempted criminal coercion. He had originally been charged with second-degree attempted theft by extortion, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

An assistant corporation counsel, Braunstein had worked for the city for four years at an annual salary of $80,000. Part of his job involved defending the city against claims filed in the state workers’ compensation courts, officials said.

On May 19, Braunstein told Neals he wanted $750,000 and a promotion within the law department, prosecutors said. Neals soon notified the city inspector general’s office, which launched a joint investigation with the Essex County Prosecutor’s Corruption Unit. On May 26, police arrested Braunstein in his office.

Braunstein will likely be sentenced to three years probation when he appears before Superior Court Judge Garry Furnari on Dec. 4, according to the prosecutor's office.

As part of the plea agreement, Braunstein will lose his city job -- from which he had been suspended -- and will be prohibited from seeking future public employment, said Paul Loriquet, a spokesman for Essex County Prosecutor Paula Dow. He is also expected to undergo a psychological evaluation.